Wednesday, 6 July 2011

127 Hours

Film/DVD

The filmic re-telling of the real life horror of the climber who slipped into a crevice and found his arm trapped under a boulder. It is a story of survival, horror, and what one human went through in this personal battle against a disaster.

For some reason, for which I am not sure, I am not a particularly big fan of James Franco, he has always just ‘bothered’ me. However, I have to take my hat off to him here, he really was outstanding. His portrayal of extreme sports enthusiast Aron Ralston was initially of an arrogant and supremely confident individual who you quickly came to admire and like. When the horror began, Franco took us on the journey with him, we felt every moment, and completely understood the final decision, and why it took 127 hours to make it.

I have to say that it is another brilliant piece of directing by Danny Boyle. When the film opened I thought I was going to be a little frustrated by his very recognisable trademark techniques, but they were put to excellent use here. In fact, in the hands of another director this could have been a very dull watch – the idea in itself is perhaps a little dull, a whole film of a man trapped down a hole. But Boyles eye for detail, the closeness of the camera, his choice of flashbacks and additional narrative through video-diaries and hallucinations, all make this a gripping and extremely entertaining watch.